We hired RomeinLimo for our day in Livorno. My wife Caitlyn (we were on our honeymoon) had been to Florence before, but I had not. Neither of us had been to Lucca or Pisa, but my sense of Pisa was that it was merely a photo op, and neither of us were the type to pose as if we were holding the tower up, so we asked to go to Lucca and Florence.
We got off the ship at about 7:50, and our driver Fabrizio was already there waiting for us. In fact, he must have come quite early, because he admitted he had initially driven to the wrong dock. From the outset, we liked him. His English was excellent, and he was talkative and enthusiastic. As we drove off, he asked if we wanted to see Pisa; when I said Lucca and Florence were more important to us, he said, "Pisa is only 20 minutes from Lucca; I know a way." I said "Fine, we trust you," and off we went. The car was an immaculate Mercedes sedan.
The initial drive to Pisa took some time, so we had a chance to talk along the way. Fabrizio clearly wanted to get a sense of us, of the kind of people we were. My wife and I are both teachers (I'm a college literature professor, while she teaches kindergarten in a Montessori school), and we both love art and literature. Our conversation was all very relaxed and comfortable, but Fabrizio knew what he wanted: to know enough about us to tailor the day to our wishes. As we got to Pisa, he told us a lot about the history of the area, and then suddenly he said, "But I should stop talking now, eh?" and we looked up, and we were right there at the tower. We gasped. It leans much more in person than you realize from pictures.
It wasn't quite 9:00, and there were maybe twenty or twenty-five people in the whole area. Fabrizio told us to walk around and take some pictures (the setting is quite pretty, really) and to meet us at the end of the street in twenty minutes. With so few people there, it was quite nice. When we got back to the car, he said, "In an hour, the buses will arrive, but they all have to park in a big lot a kilometer away. Then the people have to walk, and it is very crowded. But now it's nice." He was right. Then he explained the tower to us, what it represented, how the designers intentionally adapted Moorish architectural features and so on. It was quite interesting.
Then, off to Lucca, which indeed was not far away. Fabrizio's explanation of the history of the town and its importance was fascinating. He gave us a lot of information, but it never came across as a lecture, just a great conversation. Lucca was lovely, and we were there just as the town was coming alive, which is my wife's favorite time of day. He told us to walk up to the top of the watchtower, which we did, and it was completely worth it (though it's not the easiest climb up fairly steep and narrow stairs, Caitlyn and I are in reasonably good shape). He gave us an hour to explore. He told us a few sights to see, but he also gave us a map and said that since Lucca was not that big, we should feel free just to explore, which we did, and when we got back to the car we told him what we had seen. He stated his approval and then told us more about everything we had seen.
Off to Florence, which my wife knew fairly well. Again, all the information Fabrizio gave us was great. At one point, I spoke a little too quickly for him, and he gently said, "I like this because it shows you are comfortable with me, but can I ask you to speak a little more slowly since my English is not that good?" On the contrary, his English was superb, which is why I momentarily forgot he wasn't a native speaker and unconsciously sped up. We were all getting very comfortable with each other. When we asked - and only because we asked -- he told us about himself, his daughters (he has two daughters and no sons, so as he said, "My house -- it is the women's club, and sometimes I am not part of it, though I would like to be"). My wife told him that teenage girls sometimes have trouble relating to their fathers, but within a few years they re-connect. "So you give me hope, eh?" he said with a smile. But he seemed sincerely touched.
We got to Florence. We saw so much that it's a bit of a blur, and I'm not completely sure I remember the sequence, so I'll just list some highlights.
The Duomo is of course spectacular and looks like no other cathedral I've seen (and by the end of our cruise ten days later, we were pretty cathedraled-out, but the Duomo remained special). You can see it from some distance, of course, but what surprised us is that Fabrizio kept driving towards it. And towards it. Soon he was nosing the car through crowds right in front of it. I was starting to think he was going to drive directly into the Duomo, but he stopped just short of the stairs. People were staring, as if "Who are these celebrities in the Mercedes?" Caitlyn and I couldn't help it -- we started to laugh. As I started filming video and snapping pictures, Fabrizio told us about the building. After a minute or so, a couple of cops walked up to the car and (it was easy to tell) told Fabrizio he needed to move. He agreed, but he talked another two or three minutes before he said, "I have to move the car now." We arranged to meet forty minutes or so later a couple of blocks away.
Michelangelo's David obviously is not to be missed. There's a reason it's one of the most famous works of the Renaissance.
At some point we had lunch. Fabrizio had a place in mind, but we happened to pass a place Caitlyn had had breakfast when she was in Florence a couple of years before. Fabrizio heard, asked if she liked it, and the next thing we knew, we were there. Fabrizio helped us order (he recommended what he called an Italian crepe, which my wife said was delicious, and I had an excellent pasta in a pesto sauce) and made sure we were well taken care of before he left us to eat.
We saw Santa Croce, which was only a little disappointing because some of the more famous monuments in the church were covered for restoration. It was still worth it. We went by the Pitti Palace.
At another point we grabbed a gelato on our own, and when we met up with Fabrizio again, he smiled at Caitlyn and said, "I think you had something, yes? You are like the cat with the cream." We laughed, and he said, "But if you have room, I have a surprise." He took us to a little bakery that he said made the best chantilly cream in Italy. Then he bought us a pastry -- he actually offered to buy one for each of us, but we didn't have that much room. It was ridiculously good. I'm attaching a picture of Fabrizio waiting by the car for us as we finished.
Towards the end of the day he took us to the famous leather market. We walked around, and eventually -- after some bargaining -- I bought Caitlyn a purse, and when we got back to the car, Fabrizio asked politely if he could see it. He inspected it, felt all around it, pronounced it good quality ("No knots -- that's how you can tell; the Chinese, they have knots") and, when he found out what I paid, claimed I had made a good deal. Caitlyn said it was due to the honeymoon discount, and I laughed and said it could have been an anniversary or birthday or Friday discount, and Fabrizio gently protested, "No, no. A honeymoon, that is a special thing. We Italians, we're romantic, and for us, that is a special thing."
At some point we went to one of the bridges over the Arno. I don't remember the details, but it was lovely.
Finally, we went to see a view of the city. In Florence, you need to go somewhere up high. Caitlyn mentioned the Michelangelo Terrace, and Fabrizio said, "Ah, yes. I can take you there. It's where the tourists usually go. But I know a better place." By this point, he could have told us he was taking us to the sewers and we'd have agreed. A few minutes later, we were at the San Miniato al Monte and had the most spectacular view you can imagine. It looks as if Hollywood faked it. In fact, don't imagine it -- I'll attach a picture. And of course Fabrizio gave us all sorts of background about this most unusual church, which contains a proto-Christian church behind and below the main altar.
The drive back to the ship took quite a while. We got back around 5:40, and we talked the whole way -- about ourselves, about literature (I happen to be a fan of the Italian writer Italo Calvino and teach his works often, and of course Fabrizio had read him), about life. As we pulled into the port, Fabrizio initially went the wrong way, just as he had in the morning, but we all agreed that it was good because it gave us five more minutes together. We all got quiet, and then he said, "This has been a good day." He said it, I think, as much to himself as to us.
When he dropped us off, we all got out of the car and shook hands warmly. I paid him and tipped him an extra 50 Euros -- only 10%, and we had gone over the time we paid for (officially 500 Euros for 8:00 until 5:00) by almost a full hour, when you consider he had picked us up early. Maybe you will think it was foolish, but I asked him, "Fabrizio, is this good?" And honestly if he had expressed the slightest disappointment I would have given him more. We were that appreciative. He laughed a little and assured me it was fine.
As we boarded the ship, I looked at Caitlyn and said, "That was one of the best days of my life." I meant it. I still do.
During our 12 day Mediterranean cruise, we hired drivers for tours in four places: Livorno, Rome, Navplion (Mycenae, Epidavros), and Katakolon (Olympia). All were worthwhile, but Fabrizio was the best by far.
If you want an extraordinary day, arrange your day in Livorni with Duman and Jany Kafelabasi of RomeinLimo, and -- while I'm sure they have other good drivers -- ask for Fabrizio. You absolutely will not regret it.
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We hired RomeinLimo for our day in Livorno. My wife Caitlyn (we were on our honeymoon) had been to Florence before, but I had not. Neither of us had been to Lucca or Pisa, but my sense of Pisa was that it was merely a photo op, and neither of us were the type to pose as if we were holding the tower up, so we asked to go to Lucca and Florence.
We got off the ship at about 7:50, and our driver Fabrizio was already there waiting for us. In fact, he must have come quite early, because he admitted he had initially driven to the wrong dock. From the outset, we liked him. His English was excellent, and he was talkative and enthusiastic. As we drove off, he asked if we wanted to see Pisa; when I said Lucca and Florence were more important to us, he said, "Pisa is only 20 minutes from Lucca; I know a way." I said "Fine, we trust you," and off we went. The car was an immaculate Mercedes sedan.
The initial drive to Pisa took some time, so we had a chance to talk along the way. Fabrizio clearly wanted to get a sense of us, of the kind of people we were. My wife and I are both teachers (I'm a college literature professor, while she teaches kindergarten in a Montessori school), and we both love art and literature. Our conversation was all very relaxed and comfortable, but Fabrizio knew what he wanted: to know enough about us to tailor the day to our wishes. As we got to Pisa, he told us a lot about the history of the area, and then suddenly he said, "But I should stop talking now, eh?" and we looked up, and we were right there at the tower. We gasped. It leans much more in person than you realize from pictures.
It wasn't quite 9:00, and there were maybe twenty or twenty-five people in the whole area. Fabrizio told us to walk around and take some pictures (the setting is quite pretty, really) and to meet us at the end of the street in twenty minutes. With so few people there, it was quite nice. When we got back to the car, he said, "In an hour, the buses will arrive, but they all have to park in a big lot a kilometer away. Then the people have to walk, and it is very crowded. But now it's nice." He was right. Then he explained the tower to us, what it represented, how the designers intentionally adapted Moorish architectural features and so on. It was quite interesting.
Then, off to Lucca, which indeed was not far away. Fabrizio's explanation of the history of the town and its importance was fascinating. He gave us a lot of information, but it never came across as a lecture, just a great conversation. Lucca was lovely, and we were there just as the town was coming alive, which is my wife's favorite time of day. He told us to walk up to the top of the watchtower, which we did, and it was completely worth it (though it's not the easiest climb up fairly steep and narrow stairs, Caitlyn and I are in reasonably good shape). He gave us an hour to explore. He told us a few sights to see, but he also gave us a map and said that since Lucca was not that big, we should feel free just to explore, which we did, and when we got back to the car we told him what we had seen. He stated his approval and then told us more about everything we had seen.
Off to Florence, which my wife knew fairly well. Again, all the information Fabrizio gave us was great. At one point, I spoke a little too quickly for him, and he gently said, "I like this because it shows you are comfortable with me, but can I ask you to speak a little more slowly since my English is not that good?" On the contrary, his English was superb, which is why I momentarily forgot he wasn't a native speaker and unconsciously sped up. We were all getting very comfortable with each other. When we asked - and only because we asked -- he told us about himself, his daughters (he has two daughters and no sons, so as he said, "My house -- it is the women's club, and sometimes I am not part of it, though I would like to be"). My wife told him that teenage girls sometimes have trouble relating to their fathers, but within a few years they re-connect. "So you give me hope, eh?" he said with a smile. But he seemed sincerely touched.
We got to Florence. We saw so much that it's a bit of a blur, and I'm not completely sure I remember the sequence, so I'll just list some highlights.
The Duomo is of course spectacular and looks like no other cathedral I've seen (and by the end of our cruise ten days later, we were pretty cathedraled-out, but the Duomo remained special). You can see it from some distance, of course, but what surprised us is that Fabrizio kept driving towards it. And towards it. Soon he was nosing the car through crowds right in front of it. I was starting to think he was going to drive directly into the Duomo, but he stopped just short of the stairs. People were staring, as if "Who are these celebrities in the Mercedes?" Caitlyn and I couldn't help it -- we started to laugh. As I started filming video and snapping pictures, Fabrizio told us about the building. After a minute or so, a couple of cops walked up to the car and (it was easy to tell) told Fabrizio he needed to move. He agreed, but he talked another two or three minutes before he said, "I have to move the car now." We arranged to meet forty minutes or so later a couple of blocks away.
Michelangelo's David obviously is not to be missed. There's a reason it's one of the most famous works of the Renaissance.
At some point we had lunch. Fabrizio had a place in mind, but we happened to pass a place Caitlyn had had breakfast when she was in Florence a couple of years before. Fabrizio heard, asked if she liked it, and the next thing we knew, we were there. Fabrizio helped us order (he recommended what he called an Italian crepe, which my wife said was delicious, and I had an excellent pasta in a pesto sauce) and made sure we were well taken care of before he left us to eat.
We saw Santa Croce, which was only a little disappointing because some of the more famous monuments in the church were covered for restoration. It was still worth it. We went by the Pitti Palace.
At another point we grabbed a gelato on our own, and when we met up with Fabrizio again, he smiled at Caitlyn and said, "I think you had something, yes? You are like the cat with the cream." We laughed, and he said, "But if you have room, I have a surprise." He took us to a little bakery that he said made the best chantilly cream in Italy. Then he bought us a pastry -- he actually offered to buy one for each of us, but we didn't have that much room. It was ridiculously good. I'm attaching a picture of Fabrizio waiting by the car for us as we finished.
Towards the end of the day he took us to the famous leather market. We walked around, and eventually -- after some bargaining -- I bought Caitlyn a purse, and when we got back to the car, Fabrizio asked politely if he could see it. He inspected it, felt all around it, pronounced it good quality ("No knots -- that's how you can tell; the Chinese, they have knots") and, when he found out what I paid, claimed I had made a good deal. Caitlyn said it was due to the honeymoon discount, and I laughed and said it could have been an anniversary or birthday or Friday discount, and Fabrizio gently protested, "No, no. A honeymoon, that is a special thing. We Italians, we're romantic, and for us, that is a special thing."
At some point we went to one of the bridges over the Arno. I don't remember the details, but it was lovely.
Finally, we went to see a view of the city. In Florence, you need to go somewhere up high. Caitlyn mentioned the Michelangelo Terrace, and Fabrizio said, "Ah, yes. I can take you there. It's where the tourists usually go. But I know a better place." By this point, he could have told us he was taking us to the sewers and we'd have agreed. A few minutes later, we were at the San Miniato al Monte and had the most spectacular view you can imagine. It looks as if Hollywood faked it. In fact, don't imagine it -- I'll attach a picture. And of course Fabrizio gave us all sorts of background about this most unusual church, which contains a proto-Christian church behind and below the main altar.
The drive back to the ship took quite a while. We got back around 5:40, and we talked the whole way -- about ourselves, about literature (I happen to be a fan of the Italian writer Italo Calvino and teach his works often, and of course Fabrizio had read him), about life. As we pulled into the port, Fabrizio initially went the wrong way, just as he had in the morning, but we all agreed that it was good because it gave us five more minutes together. We all got quiet, and then he said, "This has been a good day." He said it, I think, as much to himself as to us.
When he dropped us off, we all got out of the car and shook hands warmly. I paid him and tipped him an extra 50 Euros -- only 10%, and we had gone over the time we paid for (officially 500 Euros for 8:00 until 5:00) by almost a full hour, when you consider he had picked us up early. Maybe you will think it was foolish, but I asked him, "Fabrizio, is this good?" And honestly if he had expressed the slightest disappointment I would have given him more. We were that appreciative. He laughed a little and assured me it was fine.
As we boarded the ship, I looked at Caitlyn and said, "That was one of the best days of my life." I meant it. I still do.
During our 12 day Mediterranean cruise, we hired drivers for tours in four places: Livorno, Rome, Navplion (Mycenae, Epidavros), and Katakolon (Olympia). All were worthwhile, but Fabrizio was the best by far.
If you want an extraordinary day, arrange your day in Livorni with Duman and Jany Kafelabasi of RomeinLimo, and -- while I'm sure they have other good drivers -- ask for Fabrizio. You absolutely will not regret it.